[24][25] However within Uttar Pradesh (literally meaning "North Province" in Hindi) itself, "the cultural divide between the east and the west is considerable, with the purabiyas (easterners) often being clubbed with Biharis in the perception of the westerners.

[32] After 6500 BC, evidence for domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in Mehrgarh and other sites in Balochistan, Pakistan.

[38] Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.

The Vedas, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism,[39] were composed during this period,[40] and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.

[41] The caste system, which created a hierarchy of priests (Brahmins), warriors Kshatriyas, and commoners and peasants (Vaishyas and Shudras), and but which excluded certain peoples whose occupations were considered impure, arose during this period.

[41] In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.

[50] The Magadhan Mauryan emperors are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.

[56] During this time, pastoral peoples, whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy, were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes.

[60] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

[61] After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains.

[67] In the early 16th century, northern India, then under mainly Muslim rulers,[68] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.

[73] Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.

[72] The State's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture[74] and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[75] caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.

[73] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion,[73] resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture.

Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule.

Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest.

[101] The railway network provided critical famine relief,[102] notably reduced the cost of moving goods,[102] and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.

It was marked by the enactment of the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms as the Government of India Act 1919 but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-co-operation, of which Mahatma Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol.

[105] The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-co-operation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism.

[108] Economic liberalisation, which began in the 1980s and the collaboration with Soviet Union for technical know-how,[109] has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies,[110] and increased its geopolitical clout.

[121][122][123] The region receives heavy rain in plains and light snow on Himalayas precipitation through two primary weather patterns: the Indian Monsoon and the Western Disturbances.

[126][127][128][129] They primarily occur during the winter season and are critically important for the Rabi or spring harvest, which includes the main staple over much of North India, wheat.

[133] The people of North India mostly belong to the Indo-Aryan ethno linguistic branch,[citation needed] and include various social groups such as Brahmins, Rajputs, Kayasthas, Banias, Jats, Rors, Gurjars, Kolis, Yadavs, Khatris and Kambojs.

[citation needed] Hindi is spoken in Western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi and by a large number of people in many urban centres across North India.

Marwari, Harauti, Malvi, Gujarati, Khandeshi, Marathi and Konkani are spoken in Rajasthan, extreme eastern Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.

Reflecting the diverse climatic zones and terrain contained in the region, the floral variety is extensive and ranges from Alpine to Cloud forests, coniferous to evergreen, and thick tropical rainforests to cool temperate woods.

The region encompasses several of the most highly regarded hill destinations of India such as Srinagar, Shimla, Manali, Nainital, Mussoorie, Kausani and Mount Abu.

North India encompasses several of the holiest pilgrimage centres of Hinduism (Varanasi, Haridwar, Allahabad, Char Dham, Vaishno Devi, Rishikesh, Ayodhya, Mathura/Vrindavan, Pushkar, Prayag and seven of the twelve Jyotirlinga sites), the most sacred destinations of Buddhism (Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar), the most regarded pilgrimage centres of Sikhism (Amritsar and Hemkund) and some of the highly regarded destinations in Sufi Islam (Ajmer and Delhi).

Lucknow has the famous Awadhi Nawab culture while Kanpur reflects Anglo-Indian architecture with monuments like All Souls Cathedral, King Edward Memorial, Police Quarters, Cawnpore Woollen Mills, Cutchery Cemetery etc.

Northwest Indian plains have prospered as a consequence of the Green Revolution in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, and have experienced both economic and social development.